Pseudolycoriella aotearoa, Köhler, 2019

Köhler, Arne, 2019, The genus Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998 (Diptera, Sciaridae) in New Zealand, Zootaxa 4707 (1), pp. 1-69 : 18-20

Pseudolycoriella aotearoa sp. n.

( Figs 3 & 13 )

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Literature. Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards, 1927) : Mohrig & Jaschhof (1999): 37 [misidentification].

Material studied. Holotype male. New Zealand: North Island, Ruapehu , Tongariro NP, Mangawhero River Valley 3 km NE Ohakune , altitude 690 m, mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest, Malaise trap, 26.11– 28.12.2002, leg. M. & C. Jaschhof & U. Kallweit ( NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0000997) . Paratypes: 11♂♂ same date and same locality as holo- type (4x NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0001000; 7x SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000625, SDEI-Dipt-0000758, SDEI-Dipt-0000978 & SDEI-Dipt-0000999) . 2♂♂ North Island, Taupo , Hauhungaroa Range , 5 km southwest of Tihoi , Podocarpus wood with ground ferns, sweep net, 21.12.1992, leg. M. Jaschhof (all PWMP [previously misidentified, published as Psl. zealandica in Mohrig & Jaschhof (1999)]).

Description. Male. Head. Head capsule brown. Eye bridge four facets wide, two to three facets at margin. Scape and pedicel slightly paler than the flagellomeres; fourth flagellomere ( Fig. 3 ) 2.3–2.6 times longer than wide; necks of flagellomeres well differentiated; surface of flagellomeres rough, sensilla of two different lengths, small ones and longer, curved sensilla; setae on the flagellomere dense and as long as flagellomere width, slightly curved. Maxillary palp long and three-segmented, first palpomere longest, second one shortest; first palpomere with an inconspicuous patch of sensilla and four to eight long bristles, one of these bristles longer and more robust, located on the outer side. Prefrons and clypeus bulging. Thorax brown, paler than head; some specimens with small anterior and posterior brightened parts. Posterior pronotum bare. Anterior pronotum with seven to eleven setae. Episternum 1 with four to eleven setae. Mesonotum with six to eleven robust lateral bristles; row of dorsocentral bristles well developed. Scutellum with six to nine robust bristles and several minor setae. Katepisternum slightly longer than high. Wing. Length 2.6–3.3 mm; width/length ratio 0.34–0.38. Membrane smoky and without macrotrichia, anal area present; all posterior veins distinct, stem of M weakest, apical half of R 5 with macrotrichia on ventral and dorsal side; bM bare, r-m bare or with up to two setae; R 1 0.8–1.0 times as long as R; c/w ratio 0.70–0.81; r-m 0.7–0.8 as long as bM. Haltere short and sooty brown; knob as long as shaft, or slightly longer than shaft. Legs pale brown. Tibial organ surrounded by a circular border and wider than half width of tibial apex; tibial organ consists of a transverse row of bristles. Fore and mid tibia without robust bristles among vestiture. Hind tibia with two to seven robust bristles organised in a longitudinal, posteriodorsal row. All tibial spurs equal in length. Claws with robust teeth, arranged in decreasing size. Abdomen brown, slightly paler than thorax, with dark setae. Hypopygium ( Fig. 13 ). Gonocoxites wider than long, inner side of gonocoxites with a membranous area scattered with short pale setae, outer side with long setae; ventral, inner side of gonocoxites basally not fused. Gonostylus bean shaped, 2.1–2.4 times longer than wide, apically with a large inner cavity without any microtrichia, two robust spines and one long whip-lash hair present. Tegmen trapezoid with a strongly sclerotized base, parameral apodeme short and robust; medially with a broad hood-like structure. Area of teeth consists of many small teeth. Ejaculatory apodeme dark, short and narrow; base of ejaculatory apodeme long and narrow. Posterior portion of gonocoxal apodeme medium sized and brown. Anterior portion of gonocoxal apodeme short, comma-shaped, and dark brown.

Body size: 3.2–4.4 mm.

Female. Unknown.

Genetic distances. The maximum p-distance between all six available COI sequences is 0.76%. The nearest neighbour is Psl. zealandica , diverging by a minimum of 12.21%. One successfully obtained 28S sequence is identical to those of Psl. zealandica and Psl. sp. II.

Etymology. Aotearoa is the Māori word for New Zealand and was chosen as an epithet for the newly described species to underline the close phylogenetic relationship to Psl. zealandica .

Distribution. New Zealand.

Discussion. Pseudolycoriella aoteraoa is the sister species of Psl. zealandica , and therefore morphologically very similar. However, in general Psl. aoteraoa has a larger a body size and a greater wing length. The discrimination of both species, relying on these characters only, is not sufficient, because both ranges show overlaps. The lengths of the gonostyli of both species do not show identical values, but are very close together (170–200 µm vs. 210–230 µm). A more reliable character is the structure of the base of the ejaculatory apodeme. Pseudolycoriella aoteraoa has a base consisting of two long and slender branches while Psl. zealandica has broader and widely connected branches. Further, the tegmen shows differences. The basal width of the tegmen is wider in Psl. aoteraoa and the middle hood-like structure is also broader. Lateral teeth on the tegmen as found in some specimens of Psl. zealandica are absent in Psl. aotearoa .

Due to its large body size Psl. aotearoa also resembles Psl. skusei Mohrig, Kauschke & Broadley and Psl. tenebrioalata Mohrig. Nevertheless , the structure of the hypopygia differs significantly. Pseudolycoriella skusei has an elongated gonostylus with a sharp apical bend and more spines and more whip-lash hairs than Psl. aotearoa ( Mohrig et al. 2016) . Pseudolycoriella tenebrioalata shows a similar gonostylar shape and a similar arrangement of spines. However, the tegmen structure and the ejaculatory apodeme differ fundamentally (Mohrig 2013). Pseudolycoriella tenebrioalata has a tegmen that is just slightly tapered towards the apex, and the ejaculatory apodeme is very short. Furthermore Psl. tenebrioalata does not have a border on its tibial organ, and its claws lack any teeth (Mohrig 2013).

Figures

FIGURES 1–9. Various body parts of Pseudolycoriella spp., in lateral view. 1. Pseudolycoriella dagae sp. n., fourth flagellomere. 2. Pseudolycoriella jejunella sp. n., fourth flagellomere. 3. Pseudolycoriella aotearoa sp. n., fourth flagellomere. 4. Pseudolycoriella bispina Mohrig, fourth flagellomere. 5. Pseudolycoriella puhihi sp. n., fourth flagellomere. 6. Pseudolycoriella jejunella sp. n., palp. 7. Pseudolycoriella robustotegmenta sp. n., head. 8. Pseudolycoriella jejunella sp. n., tibial organ. 9. Pseudolycoriella hauta sp. n., wing. Abbreviations: aa = anal area; bM = base of the medial vein; c = distance between intersection of vein R5 and radial vein and the end of costal vein; CuA1/CuA2 = first and second branch of the anterior branch of the cubital vein; M1/M2 = first and second branch of the medial vein (“M-fork”); R = radial vein; R1/R5 = first and fifth branch of the radial vein; r-m = crossvein between radial and median veins; w = distance between intersection of vein R5 and radial vein and intersection of vein M1 and wing margin.

FIGURES 12–13. Pseudolycoriella zealandica complex, hypopygia. 12. Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards). 13. Pseudolycoriella aotearoa sp. n. Abbreviation: hs = hood-like structure.